Family Fun: 6 Wild Ways to Celebrate Summer

Give your family getaway a one-of-a-kind upgrade. Next time school’s out, take your kids or grandkids on an expedition and guarantee they’ll have the coolest “what I did on my vacation” story ever. Here are just some of the amazing activities they can try. Read it with them—and watch how fast they start packing their bags.

Earn a Zodiac driver’s licenseWhat’s cooler than zipping around glittering icebergs or zooming past a pod of dolphins in a Zodiac? Taking the reins and steering the craft! With help from a naturalist, kids will learn how to cruise through the water like a master navigator. When the lesson’s complete they’ll take home their official driver’s license—now that’s something they’ll want to show and tell!

Direct a nature documentaryKids can work with a Lindblad-National Geographic certified photo instructor to experiment with time-lapse, slo-mo, and other cool video features on their smartphone as they head out into the field. Will they focus on soaring bald eagles with a six-foot wingspan or capture the thunderous spectacle of a calving glacier? Get a close-up of a grazing giant tortoise or pan across a hundred marine iguanas resting on black lava rocks? Using their observation skills and imagination they’ll learn to tell a unique story of the wild wonders around them.

See eye-to-eye with a gray whaleIn the nursery lagoons of Baja’s Bahia Magdalena, inquisitive mother and calf pairs eagerly approach Zodiacs, popping out of the water to say hello. Check out their baleen plates up-close (that’s how they filter out their food!), observe all the barnacles speckling their rubbery skin, and stare into their giant, curious eyes. It’s a whale of a biology lesson the whole family is sure to remember for a long time to come.

Snorkel with sea lionsNo kid can resist the chance to wet suit up and make a splash in sea lion-filled waters. They’ll explore the colorful undersea and spot schools of fish, as these playful pinnipeds join in the fun and swim alongside them. If they’re lucky they might even get surprised with a sea lion smooch or a nibble on their swim fins.

Be part of a plankton towPlankton are a key source of food for whales, fish, and other large marine life. Kids can head out in a Zodiac and help drop a special plankton net into the sea to gather up some specimens. Back on board your ship they’ll examine their catch under a microscope and discover what makes these very important, free-floating organisms tick.

Make an ice cream glacier sundaeGlaciers form in places like Alaska and Antarctica where more snow falls each winter than melts each summer. These enormous rivers of ice can be tricky to understand but kids will discover how they work in the most delicious way possible—by making ice cream sundaes!